Reputation
by LegacyTales
Summary: A collection of romance stories inspired by the songs from Taylor Swift's new album. Zhane/Karone (NEW!), Jason/Kimberly, Sky/Syd
1. End Game (Sky & Syd)

I find Taylor Swift to be an incredibly intuitive and shrewd lyricist. As I listened to the words of the songs on her new album, "reputation," I started to match the tracks with couples in the Power Rangers universe.

So, I've decide to take on a little self-challenge: create a Power Rangers romance one-shot or short story for every song on new Taylor Swift's album as part of this new "Reputation" fan fic. These stories are, intentionally, supposed to a little "tongue-and-cheek" and humorous with the way the "reputation" song lyrics are worked in.

So here it goes! Wish me luck, and if you have suggestions about which Taylor Swift "reputation" song should be matched with which ranger couple, leave a review. Would love to hear your ideas!

* * *

 **Inspired by "End Game," Taylor Swift ft. Future and Ed Sheeran**

 _Power Rangers Couple_ : Sky & Syd

This song's theme of "big reputation, big conversation" brought to mind this SPD couple for me.

* * *

 **End Game**

"We…can't… keep… doing… this," gasped Sky Tate in between rapid kisses to the beautiful, voluptuous blonde he held pressed between his muscular body and the hard, metal wall.

The red ranger breathed heavily as he closed his eyes, his lips hovering inches from his partner's. He could feel his heart racing through his red SPD uniform as he slowly untangled his hands from his partner's mass of long, blonde curls. His strong hands moved to cup the face and stroke the left cheek of the girl in the pink SPD uniform.

"Why can't we keep doing this? I thought you said I needed to practice more?" teased Sydney Drew, giving Sky an innocent look as she gestured to target range room in which they were making out, errr, "talking."

"I meant practice your ranger skills, Syd," said Sky quietly, distracted by her vivid blue eyes that pierced through the dimly lit room.

"Some would say seduction is an important ranger skill," countered Syd playfully.

Syd arched her back to tantalizingly press her hips against Sky's for the briefest of instances, sending Sky's pulse sky-rocking. She then leaned up on her tippy toes to wrap her arms about the red ranger and draw him against her red lips. Their kisses quickened and deepened with rapid intensity, the passion between them palpable. Sky ran his hands down Syd's sides over hips, starting to pull her against him again before suddenly pushing himself back.

"No Syd, we can't," said Sky again, this time backing away and crossing his arms in an attempt to hold himself back. "We have to stop this between us, once and for all."

"Why?" whined Syd, her pouty red lips nearly driving Sky to push her back against the wall, and this time, never let her go.

"Because we have big reputations," explained Sky. "You and me, we've got big reputations."

"You and me, we'd be a big conversation," agreed Syd, thinking of the news that SPD's top ranger and New Tech City's biggest pop start – together as a couple – would generate.

"You heard about me," continued Sky, stating the obvious. "I've got some big enemies."

"And I don't?" countered Syd. "I'm an SPD ranger, AND an international singing sensation."

"But you're my type, Syd," said Sky as he moved back toward her and stroked her arm. "You hold me down, and I'd protect you with me life."

Syd knew what he said to be true – he'd been protecting her with his life for years. She and Sky had first met when they were young, training together at SPD. They connected romantically when they were both a bit older, as B-Squad members. Sky's often obsessive training reputation led him to have chips on both of his shoulders. And although as a result of his uptight attitude towards being a ranger, she and Sky would argue, they'd never do it for long. Many of their good and bad had even ended up in her pop songs.

For Sky, he fallen for Syd as she helped him work through his flaws, paranoia, and insecurities about becoming the blue, and eventually, red ranger. It wasn't just Syd's beautiful physical traits, but the way she transitioned from her various personas – caring friend, seductive vixen, successful popstar, fearsome power ranger – with such ease.

Sure, it was hard to deny, that he had made some mistakes with the way he had been overly hard at times on Syd and his fellow rangers. But after the storm, something was born between him and Syd on the 4th of July. As they watched the fireworks together, just the two of the them, physical sparks also flew for first time between the red and pink rangers. Thinking of that moment, Sky began to move back towards Syd to hold her again.

"Sky, I don't wanna touch you," began Syd, as she put up her hand to stop his progress.

"Why?" questioned a confused Sky, given their interaction just a few minutes ago.

"I don't wanna be, just another ex-love you don't wanna see," said Syd softly, her pink cheeks flushed to match the color of her shirt. "I don't wanna miss you, like the other girls do."

"Who said there were other girls?" smirked Sky. "Anyway Syd, I don't wanna hurt you. I just wanna be drinking on a beach with you all over me."

Of course he would bring up Miami, mused Syd to herself. How could she forget, after weeks of hooking up, how they had snuck away last month for a weekend in South Beach: sipping tropical beverages on the warm sand while watching the crystal blue ocean, and then at night, sneaking back to the oceanfront to indulge in their feelings for one another, with only the moonlight as their witness.

"Syd, I know I keep saying we can't do this," began Sky slowly. "But I'm wrong."

"What do you mean?" asked Syd, unable to the hide the excitement in her voice.

"We've tried to forget this, but we just can't," explained Sky, wrapping his arms slowly around Syd's lower back and pulling her body to press lightly against his.

"I swear I don't love the drama, it loves me," replied Syd, smiling ruefully.

"And I can't let you go," continued Sky, as he pressed his forehead against hers.

It was true, as much as Sky for the sake of their reputations at SPD, had tried to end their secret relationship, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Her hand was printed on his soul. Her eyes were liquor, and her body was gold.

"You've been calling my bluff on all my usual tricks," said Sky finally, moving his hands up to grasp her shoulders. "So here's the truth from my red ranger lips."

"Oh?" asked Syd, her voice trembling slightly with anticipation.

"I wanna be your endgame," said Sky firmly, feeling a surge of poetic inspiration. "I wanna be your first string. I wanna be your A-Team."

"Don't you mean A-Squad?" joked Syd.

"We discontinued A-Squad. There's only B-Squad at SPD now," he retorted in a business-like tone, immediately morphing into "serious Sky" mode.

"Sky…" warned Syd playfully.

"Right, sorry," blushed Sky.

"So, you wanna be my endgame?" asked Syd meekly. "Even though here at SPD, you and me, we got big reputations?"

Sky answered her question, but kissing her again, but this time, gently and tenderly. With one hand, he tilted her chin towards his lips, while his other moved to stroke where her blonde curls met her back. For a long time, Sky had held back the four words on the tip of his tongue, as thoughts of his mother's diamond ring in his office desk that he had been saving for Syd once again popped into his head. But Sky knew the time to hold back their feelings, because of their reputations, was coming to a close.

Sky kissed Syd's her cheek before leading her out of the room, hand-in-hand for all at SPD to see. They noticed the stares and not-so-subtle chatter from the SPD staff around them, as their colleagues observed the red and pink rangers out in the open with their relationship. But neither Sky not Syd cared about the big conversation they were generating around them.

"I wanna be your endgame," whispered Sky earnestly to a beaming Syd.


	2. Call It What You Want (Jason & Kimberly)

So to recap, I've decide to take on a little self-challenge: create a Power Rangers romance one-shot or short story for every song on new Taylor Swift's album as part of this new "Reputation" fan fic.

Again, if you have suggestions about which Taylor Swift "reputation" song should be matched with which ranger couple, leave a review. Would love to hear your ideas!

* * *

 **Inspired by Call It What You Want," Taylor Swift**

 _Power Rangers Couple_ : Jason & Kimberly

This song describes someone loving you, despite current drama and past mistakes from your life. When I listened to the lyrics, I thought of how much drama Kimberly's letter caused, and well, the story below was born.

* * *

 **Call It What You Want**

 _My castled crumbled overnight_ , Kimberly Hart mused to herself, reaching for a photo on the fireplace mantle.

Kimberly examined wistfully the image of herself, Tommy, Aisha, Rocky, Adam, and Billy at Ernie's Juice Bar. Laughing and smiling in the picture, with their arms around one another, the sight of this happy group now filled Kimberly with sadness. She never imagined that in breaking up with Tommy, she would be breaking up with all the rest of her friends, too. They all felt Kimberly's choice of a letter as the vehicle to end her long-term relationship with Tommy and start of her new relationship with a fellow gymnast in Florida – was classless.

 _I brought a knife to a gunfight_ , Kimberly recollected, as she thought back at how unprepared she was to respond to her friends' accusations that she, Kimberly Hart, had no heart.

 _They took the crown, but it's alright_ , Kimberly tried to convince herself, knowing that Kathrine "Kat" Hillard had not only taken her place in her group of friends and as the pink ranger, but as Tommy's girlfriend.

 _All the liars are calling me one_ , Kimberly thought, still bitter that her former friends had cut her out for the way she had broken up with Tommy, yet Kat had only wait a mere few days before getting her kitty claws into Tommy. Talk about being classless!

As a result of all the drama – the break-up letter, her friends' subsequent rebuke, and Tommy's eventual coupling with Kat – nobody in Angel Grove had heard from Kimberly for month. But what they didn't know was the truth: that Kimberly was doing better than she ever was.

"My baby's fit like a dream," Kimberly whispered aloud, smiling as a familiar brown-haired, broad-shoulder figure, entered her bedroom.

Walking with his head down, she was the one Jason Lee Scott was walking to.

"My baby's fly like a jet stream," Kimberly cooed as she and Jason met in tender embrace and subsequent kiss.

Jason had stayed high above the whole scene during "letter-gate," instead loving Kimberly like she was brand new in spite of all the drama.

"Why were you looking at this old photo of the Angel Grove gang?" asked Jason, massaging Kimberly's bare arms.

"All my flowers grew back as thorns. Windows boarded up after the storm," said Kimberly in a melancholy tone, as she knelt in her lacy, light pink nighty in front of the fireplace.

"You're quite poetic tonight," chuckled Jason, as the sound of the wood burning crackled in the background.

"I spotted this photo on the mantle just before you came over," said Kimberly, looking up at Jason. "I was reminded me how cold I felt after they all iced me out for sending the letter to Tommy."

"Maybe one day you can go back to surprise everyone in Angel Grove, to try and mend fences," suggested Jason. "I'll go with you for moral support."

Yet as Jason joined her on the floor in front of the fire, Kimberly thought about the emotional fire Jason had built just to keep her warm, after the turmoil of her break-up with Tommy and subsequent rebound with a male gymnast she had been training with at the time in Florida. Jason, who coincidentally had come to visit her in Florida after his time with the Power Rangers Zeo team had ended, never judged Kimberly or took sides.

So as Kimberly once again regarded the photo of the old gang back in Angel Grove – now to her, all the drama queens taking swings, all the jokers dressing up as kings – they faded to nothing she looked at Jason.

"I know I make the same mistakes every time. Bridges burn, I never learn," she said remorsefully, thinking at the crash-and-burn endings of her relationships with Tommy and then the Florida gymnast.

Kimberly reached up to lightly trace with her fingertips Jason's strong jawline. She then ran both her hands down over his red t-shirt, feeling his chiseled chest beneath the thin fabric. Finally, she took both her hands in her own, as they sat facing each other in front of the roaring fireplace.

"At least I did one thing right," she said smiling, so thankful that after all her failed relationships, she had gotten in right when it really counted.

Jason responded by swopping Kimberly up and carrying her over to the bed. She laughed as her lover started making forts under covers, pulling the sheets over both their heads almost as if to block out all the drama from the outside world. Kimberly loved how she trusted him like a brother, his starry eyes sparking up her darkest nights.

"Do you recall late November?" questioned Jason softly, from within their bedsheet tent.

"I was holding my breath," recalled Kimberly of that night from just a few months ago. "Slowly, I said, 'You don't need to save me. But would you run away with me?'"

And Jason had run away with her, staying with her in Florida, at which point their friendship had slowly morphed into more. Now finally after the intimate months they had spent together, Kimberly gathered the courage to ask Jason what had long been on her mind.

"Jason, what do you call this between us?" she said shyly.

Jason smiled broadly as he lowered himself to her, grabbed her arms and rolled her over under the sheets, so that she was now on top of him. Kimberly laughed as Jason brushed a strand of her long, light brown locks away from her face.

"So call it what you want to," murmured Jason, as he traced three words, eight letters into the palm of her hand.

"Call it what you want to," grinned Kimberly, before leaning down to press her lips passionately against his.


	3. Getaway Car (Zhane & Karone)

If you have suggestions about which Taylor Swift "reputation" song should be matched with which ranger couple, do leave a review! I have a bunch of songs I'm still searching for the right couple to pair with.

* * *

" **Getaway Car," by Taylor Swift**

 _Power Rangers Couple_ : Zhane and Astronema (Karone)

This song is about being in a love triangle, and consequently, knowing that both relationships were doomed from the start. The lyrics of "Getaway Car" made me think of the star-crossed lovers from "Power Rangers in Space." I adapted the lyrics to make it about triangle of conflicting priorities – love versus duty – instead of conflicting people. Let me know how you think it works!

* * *

 **Getaway Car**

Falling in love. With you sworn enemy.

To Astronema, Princess of Evil, that definitely qualified as the best of times, but the worst of crimes.

As she paced around her bedroom aboard the Dark Fortress, Astronema ran her hands through her short-red hair as thought back to that fateful afternoon when her own monster attacked her and rendered her unconscious. Zhane the Silver Ranger whisked her away on his galaxy glider, which served as their getaway car, despite his goal to defeat her master, Dark Specter.

Landing at a campfire, their positions became not so black and white, Astronema recalled. One-on-one in a non-battle situation, Astronema couldn't help but notice how beautiful Zhane's deep brown eyes were or the defined, chiseled nature of his handsome face. In shades of gray in the candleight, err, firelight, Zhane had made her healing tea after taking his protective helmet off. Zhane wasn't thinking. And Astronema was just drinking, his tea, as she sat torn between her attraction to the ranger… and her attraction to the idea of eliminating the ranger.

" _I could destroy you right now. You know that, don't you?_ " Astronema recalled she had said to the silver ranger.

" _You could, but I don't think you will_ ," he replied.

And Astronema hadn't. Not when Zhane had grabbed her Wrath Staff to toast her a marshmallow treat, which she had greatly enjoyed. Not the next day when she disguised herself as a normal, blonde human girl and purposely ran into Zhane outside of a movie theater just gaze into his gorgeous eyes again.

But when Zhane was late for their date the following afternoon, it was then Astronema had fired her Wrath Staff upon him, turning the long-stem red roses he had brought her into ash. Zhane claimed Astronema had sent the Horrorbull monster to attack, thus causing him to be tardy. It was only after Astronema had stormed off from their date that she found out back at the Dark Fortress that someone else there had sent the Horrorbull monster. Now, weeks had passed. Too much time, too much had happened for her to see Zhane again. It was just too late.

Or was it, she wondered.

Heading into the main control room, checking that no one else was around, she programmed a message to send to Zhane's morphing device: Meet me at our spot by the campfire. Come alone.

 _The Next Day_

The following day, there were sirens in the beat of Zhane's heart as he waited for Astronema. As one of the forces of evil attacking Earth all these past months, Zhane was well-aware he should never have helped her once, let alone be seeing her second time alone. But Zhane knew he couldn't deny that the Princess of Evil had become the queen of his heart. If there was any chance she wanted to give their connection another shot…

Zhane's heart skipped a beat as Astronema tele-beamed into view, still as gorgeous with a shorter, red 'do and so sexy in tight, black battle attire that accented her slim, fit figure. Zhane held out another boutique of long-stemmed red roses to her.

"Since you destroyed the last ones," said Zhane, smiling ruefully. "Thought I'd try this again."

"Thank you," replied Astronema softly. "Were you followed?"

"No, were you?" asked Zhane back.

"I can't believe we're back here," Astronema continued as she paced around the campfire site, ignoring his question. "X marks the spot where we fell apart."

"Dark Specter, he poisoned the well, every man for himself," replied Zhane, pointing back-and-forth between them.

"I wanted to leave him!" exclaimed Astronema, referencing Dark Specter. "I needed a reason."

As if to give her a reason, the silver the silver ranger took her arm tenderly. Astronema felt chills go up her spine, once again feeling the pangs of between torn between one's desire and one's duty. As they gazed deeply into each other's eyes, blaster shots rang out around them. They both looked up with alarm to see Quantrons, the foot soldiers of Dark Specter, running towards them.

"We have to get out of here!" said Zhane urgently, grabbing Astronema's hand. "Silver Cycle!"

Before Astronema could protest, they were driving in the getaway car, err, motocycle. They were flying, but Astronema knew they'd never get far. She turned to see Ecliptor – the general at the Dark Fortress who raised her – as well as the Quantrons riding on motorbikes after her.

"Go, go, go!" she screamed to Zhane, holding onto his waist tightly on the back of the Silver Cycle.

It was the great escape, the prison break that she had often dreamed of. As they jet set, she felt like they Bonnie and Cylde. Astronema took a moment to enjoy the light of freedom on her face. But with the three of them – Zhane, herself, and Dark Specter – she knew it was a sideshow. A few tears started to roll down Astronema's cheeks.

"I was cryin' in a getaway car. I was dyin' in a getaway car. I said goodbye in a getaway car," she whispered to herself, no longer torn and knowing what she had to do next.

When Ecliptor and the Quantrons were out of sight, Zhane slowed the Silver Cycle to a halt. Extending a hand to help Astronema off the bike, Zhane moved in to embrace her. However, Astronema quickly hopped off the bike on her own and recoiled, now unable to meet his gaze.

"I knew it from the first old-fashioned cup of tea, that we were cursed," said Astronema sadly, as she started to press buttons on a panel on her wrist.

"Astronema, no please, we can make this… " Zhane began urgently, before he was cut off by blaster shots once again being point in his direction.

Zhane rolled to the side, easily dogging the shots. In shock and panic, he looked up to see Ecliptor and the Quantrons once again racing towards them. But this time, Astronema had a broad smile on her face.

"Astronema, what's going on? How did they find us so fast?" asked Zhane, feeling his stomach begin to sink.

"It's no surprise I turned you in," replied Astronema, revealing a secret communicator on her wrist. "Because us traitors never win."

Her words hit Zhane like a shotgun shot to the heart.

"I thought said you wanted to leave him, Dark Specter?" asked Zhane in despair, starting to wonder if she had reached out to him not to reconcile, but to try to trap him.

"I knew I struck a match and blew your mind," she continued showing little emotion. "But I didn't mean it. And you didn't see it."

"And I knew I should have listened to the sirens in the beat of my heart," murmured Zhane in a mix of shock and anguish.

"Don't pretend it's such a mystery," responded Astronema curtly. "Think about the place where you first met me."

And Zhane did, recalling that the only reason he rescued Astronema in the first place was because she had sent her monsters to attack the innocent citizens of earth. No matter how he felt about her – or even if she had felt anything for him in return at one point – they would always be on different sides of the fight. Unfortunately for Zhane, Astronema had realized that before he had and instead used the opportunity to bring Ecliptor and Quantrons to set Zhane up.

"A circus ain't a love story," said Astronema simply "I'm sorry."

"We're both sorry," echoed Zhane limply, overwhelmed by feelings of both anger and anguish.

Zhane gazed longingly one last time at the red-haired Astronema, who now refused to meet his gaze. As the Quantrons moved into grab him, Zhane listened to the sirens in the beat of his heart this time and quickly morphed into the silver ranger. Summoning his galaxy glider, he flew into the air and away from his feelings for Astronema.

" _No, nothing good starts in a getaway car_ ," Astronema mused despondently to herself as she watched him disappear.

* * *

I wrote this story with the lyrics to "Getaway Car" in mind, but in my own ships world, I like to think that Zhane and Karone ended up together, once she returned to her normal self after Dark Spector was defeated. :-)

Anyway, subscribe to see what song ends up being next!


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